By Paul Gotham
GENEVA, N.Y. — The midway point of the New York Collegiate Baseball League season is just a few days away, so the importance of Monday night’s New York Collegiate Baseball League contest at McDonough Park can’t be understated. What started as a battle for second place in the Western Division, ended with an exclamation point at the end of a Geneva Twins statement.
Six different players finished with multi-hit outings as the Twins pounded the Niagara Power 16-4.
Mike Annone (Wilmington) led the way with four hits including a single in a three-run first and a two-out double as the Twins all but put the game away with a five-run third.
“Tonight felt good,” Annone said. “For some reason I can always hit against this team. I always see the ball well.”
Bob Barnett (Widener) reached on an error to lead the first. Tre Edwards (Murray State College) put runners on the corners with a base hit before Annone brought home Geneva’s first run with a single.
“I was being light on my front side,” Annone explained. “Just getting my foot down, actually seeing the ball long. It turned into hits. All I care about is hitting the ball hard.”
Calvin Woolhiser (St. John Fisher) plated Edwards and eventually scored an unearned run as the Twins grabbed an early 3-1 edge.
Making his first start David Anderson (Muhlenberg) improved to 4-0 on the season. The right-hander struck out three, walked one and allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over six full.
“It felt good,” Anderson said of the outing. “In the ‘pen it felt great. Everything was as I wanted it.”
After surrendering a couple of hits in the early innings, the Baldwinsville, N.Y. native made some adjustments.
“I kinda figured it out after the first two innings. I was really flying open at the beginning and coming across my body. Everything was getting yanked across. It didn’t feel right. I was just trying to stay closed and keep my shoulder pointed toward home as long as possible.”
The appearance was the eighth this season for the returning starter. Anderson hurled 10 shutout innings in relief over his last four outings.
“Dave came out and pitched real well,” Twins coach Nick Callahan said. “It’s been bittersweet because we wanted to use him the last couple of days (out of the bullpen), and we haven’t been able to. It was a good start today. It was exactly what we expected out of Dave.”
Anderson hurled 42.2 innings in seven starts for the Twins last summer . This past spring he fanned 28 and walked seven in 63 innings of work atop the Muhlenberg Mules rotation.
Geneva sent 11 to the plate and put the game out of reach with five two-out hits in a six-run seventh.
“The bats have been coming alive,” Callahan commented. “It’s been fun to watch. That’s for sure. It’s easy for me to coach.”
Brett Connors (Siena) led with a single. Justin Green (Wabash) reached when he was hit by a pitch. Two outs later, DJ Link (Harvard) started the hit parade with a run-scoring single. Sean Feeney (Wilmington) brought home two when he went with a two-strike pitch and poked it into right field. David Oliger (Wabash) double home two. Connors put bookends on the inning when he plated Oliger with a hit, and Geneva led 16-2.
“It seems like every night we have 10-plus hits,” Callahan noted. “It keeps us in a lot of games.”
Nathan Grant (St. Bonaventure) tossed three innings out of the bullpen for the Twins.
“We got a couple of good outings from Dave and Nate. They pitched real well.”
Link and Oliger added three hits apiece for the Twins. Oliger drove in three.
Edwards went 2-for-2 with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI. He ran his hitting streak to a league-high 11 games.
“Tre is extremely talented,” Callahan said. “He has a fantastic swing. He knows what he is doing up at the plate.”
Barnett doubled home a pair and scored on an Edwards single in the third.
Ivan Acuna (Catawba Valley CC) paced the Power with the three hits. The infielder singled and scored an unearned run in the first. He doubled and came around on a Tyler Marcinko (Piedmont) two-bagger in the fifth.
John Mulhern (Regis) tripled home a run and scored in the eighth.
Anderson’s ERA of 1.23 is good for fourth in the NYCBL.
Jack Moore (Colorado Christian) pitched two shutout innings for Niagara.
Zach Verner (John Carroll) hurled a scoreless ninth for the visitors.
The win was the third straight for Geneva (12-7) who holds a one-game lead over Rochester (10-7) for second place. One game separated the Twins and Power prior to Monday’s first pitch. With the outcome Niagara dropped to third.
“We showed that we’re trying to win this league,” Annone stated. “We’re coming out pitching, hitting every night. We just got to keep playing good ball.”
The Twins travel to Hornell Tuesday and take on the first-place Dodgers (18-3). Geneva has handed the Blue and White two of their losses. A 7 p.m. start is slated.
Niagara (9-8) hosts the Olean Oilers (4-13). A 7 p.m. first pitch is also scheduled at Sal Maglie Stadium.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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